- 3 Year Starter- Great athleticism- Great straight line speed (4.50 range)- Playmaker for Bulls defense (9 Career INT)- Outstanding instincts- At his best in zone- Recognizes where help is needed in zone and gets there in time to make a play- Quick acceleration and burst- Solid ball skills, will make a lot of plays on the ball- Plays as last line of defense and excels at it- Great tackling technique, rarely misses tackles- Not afraid to get into piles and make sure the tackle is made- Easily matches up with TE's in coverage- Leader of the defense, makes sure everyone is in the right position- Hard worker, very good intangibles

Negatives:

- High and slow backpedal- Will struggle when matched against WR's in man- Takes poor angles at times- Won't "wow" you with any bone crushing hits- Doesn't look as fast as his timed speed in games

Overview:

Nate Allen is one of my favorite players in this years draft. He is an extremely talented FS because he is both athletic and smart. He has had a very productive career at South Florida and has become a great playmaker in the secondary. I have him ranked as the 3rd safety behind only Eric Berry and Earl Thomas. I think Allen is pretty underrated and this could be because he had a rather average junior year. He isn't as flashy as Berry or Mays and that could be a reason. He will make some team very happy that drafts him in the 2nd round. He is a 1st round talent imo.

PROS: Active safety that is quick to come up and defend the run and constantly around the ball. Will deck a receiver coming over the middle. Shows good closing burst on the ball and can make the stop quickly after the catch. Capable tackler that will wrap up in the open field. Rarely gets caught out of position in coverage and does a nice job when he can keep things in front of him. Shows nice ball skills with burst to break on the ball. Shows enough in man coverage to cover tight ends.CONS: Needs to take better angles to the ball at times and will miss some stops in the open field. Needs to do a better job breaking down consistently and can get run over by bigger backs in space Doesn't have ideal hisp and burst and can't match up with WRs in the slot.OVERVIEW: Allen showed significant improvement in coverage from his junior to senior year. As a junior, I would have described him as a run stopper first, but as a senior I think I would flip it and say his coverage abilities were his best asset. Had 4 picks as a senior after only 1 his junior year. Provided some big plays, scoring 3 touchdowns on defense during his career.NFL FORECAST: Allen is a smart safety that will fit nicely for teams that like to play a lot of Cover-2 with their safeties. He is a good run stopper that won't be a liability there, but occasionally will give up some plays because of taking a poor angle or missing a tackle. But eventually, I think his smarts and intelligence will make up for that. He's a good playmaker that I think can comfortably be the quarterback of a defense in a few years. I think he's good enough and polished enough that he could be able to successfully start as a rookie. The thing with Allen is that he doesn't have ridiculous upside. He's not going to be the next Brian Dawkins by any means, but he could be a poor man's Darren Sharper eventually.ATL FORECAST: Allen could come to Atlanta and dethrone DeCoud as the starter. Not right away, but he could definitely give him a run for his money by his second season. I think Allen has a bit more upside than DeCoud does, just because he's a little bigger and more polished coming into the league than DeCoud was. I think he could unseat DeCoud from the starting job, or at least give the team a solid option that if they don't want to pay DeCoud in two years, then they could have a nice solid safety waiting in the wings.VALUE: For a team desperate for a smart free safety, they might snatch him late in the second round. But that might be a slight reach. Instead take him in the early part of the third.

Pros: Very smart and reads plays quickly. Has good size and speed for the position, and closes very quickly on ball-carriers once he reads run, pass or screen. Has good pop as a hitter but is also a very reliable wrap-up tackler, and fills very well against the run from his safety position. He reads QB’s eyes very well and is a ball-hawk in the secondary, and plays the Center-Field position well. He has good ball skills and closes well to make a break on the ball to deflect or intercept the pass.

Cons: Doesn’t look great in man coverage and doesn’t have very good ability to turn and run with a receiver in man coverage when in the slot. Does much better in zone. Will miss tackles in the open field at times when he flies to the ball too quickly or when he takes a bad angle. Doesn’t have a lot of upside because he is fundamentally sound.

Overall: Allen is a safety I have liked all year and I am glad he is still going to be drafted in the 2nd or maybe 3rd round. I like him a lot because he plays smart and is rarely out of position, and reads and reacts to plays very quickly. He is a guy who plays smart and his physical ability, such as his good closing burst, complement his ability to play fast and smart. His physical ability isn’t a crutch for his lackluster recognition skills, so that is great to see. He is a reliable tackler and fills well versus the run, and is very reliable in coverage as a center fielder and is rarely caught out of position, but has good recovery speed to make up for it when he is caught out of position. He will need some coaching at the next level, but I think he can contribute as a rookie because he is so fundamentally sound, making him pretty NFL ready. He doesn’t have an abundance of upside though, so his ceiling is probably a safety who ends up with 2-4 interceptions a year, plays good coverage over the top, rarely gives up big plays and supports the run effectively. He won’t be a Pro-Bowler, but he could be a very effective cog in a good defense, and can develop into the leader of his secondary because he will know where everyone is supposed to be and what they are supposed to do. His floor is that he will be a solid safety and may be a #3 safety on some teams, rotating in either from injuries or because he is good in coverage and playing special teams.

Projection: 2nd-early 3rd round: Safeties slide a bit in the draft and Allen doesn’t have the most upside of any Safety in the draft, but he is a relatively safe pick because he is fundamentally sound, plays very smart and has good intangibles. That will make him attractive to some teams, particularly teams who love players with those characteristics, and teams who could use a NFL ready FS who won’t make mistakes that will cost them big plays and maybe even games. I really think Nate Allen will be a good safety in the NFL, and I have for a long time. Maybe not a Pro-Bowler, but a good safety.

SKILLS1-poor, 2-weak, 3-above average, 4-very good, 5-elite

SPEED: 3.5TACKLING: 3.5COVERAGE: 3.5BALL SKILLS: 3.5RANGE: 3.5

Pudge it always weirds me out when we have very similar or the exact same numerical grades for a player. lol

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